Founded in 2018, Clean Up the Lake’s team of volunteer divers have dove into Lake Tahoe and Donner Lake, bringing up thousands of pounds of trash from beneath the surface. This year the nonprofit set out to pull trash from depths of up to 25 feet around the entirety of Lake Tahoe.
On Wednesday, Clean Up the Lake celebrated its first milestone on its way to cleaning 72 miles of shoreline, announcing that 8,122 pounds of trash have been removed along 22 miles of Tahoe’s eastern shore.
Clean Up the Lake Founder and Executive Director Colin West said that last year the team of divers pulled out 990 beer cans from within a mile of the area, and found an additional 500 cans this time around.
Originally, West planned to cover a mile per day, but said he expects the eastern side of Tahoe to be the dirtiest area to dive in due to winds, current, and rocks. Plans are to finish the project by winter.
for more information or to donate to Clean Up the Lake, visit cleanupthelake.org